Square is already processing $8 billion transactions annually in the United States and has been active since 2010. It gives almost anyone with a smartphone the ability to accept credit card payments by attaching a little white square to the top of their iPhone, iPad or Android device.

A mobile app then works with the peripheral, performing the electronic transaction. The transaction fee is currently set at 2.75 per cent, which is actually lower than most credit card fees.

Square has the potential to appeal to a wide variety of users, from people looking to pay for a Craigslist or Kijiji item to a farmer selling corn at a road-side store simply because it’s so easy to sign up and get started.

It gives sellers who traditionally wouldn’t be able to accept credit cards the ability to offer credit card payment as an option for their customers. Previously, because of barriers to entry like high licensing fees and equipment costs, this wasn’t an option for many smaller merchants.

Square’s Register app allows merchants a to have a point-of-sale system and also track their inventory. Dorsey wants Square to help small businesses make important decisions and track their growth.

Merchants interested in trying square need to register with the service, providing an email address and creating an account on Square’s Canadian website, and then the company will send you a free credit card reader.

Unfortunately, Square Wallet, a payment system that makes purchasing a product as easy as simply stating your name, won’t be available until 2013 in Canada.

If Square manages to gain a foot hold in the Canadian marketplace, it has the potential to revolutionize the way we pay for certain items. However, how secure these mobile credit card transactions actually turn out to be is another question.

Imagine having the ability to purchase products you’ve found on Kijiji with the simple swipe of a credit card?